Anne Frank and the Freedom Writers

The message of hope lives on in a most unlikely place.

When The Diary of Anne Frank was first made public almost 50 years ago, she came to signify the tragic heroes who survived the Holocaust, although she was certainly more heroine than tragic. Here was a young Jewish girl, hiding from the Gestapo with her family in a secret apartment in Amsterdam looking at an uncertain survival. Yet her diary revealed a sense of optimism for a better future, a lack of fear, and hopefulness that against all odds they would survive. And though Anne Frank perished, the diary that she left behind lives on, and continues to powerfully impact the lives of others.

The movie "Freedom Writers" is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell, played by Academy Award winner Hilary Swank. Erin is a novice high school teacher whose first assignment is teaching freshman English to a class of angry and disinterested white, black, Latino and Asian students in Long Beach, California after the Rodney King riots in 1992. Passionate about teaching and determined to make a difference, she isn't easily deterred by her students' angry outbursts and a general lack of interest in learning anything she's so earnestly trying to teach them. Instead, she searches for ways to appeal to them.

The opportunity presents itself in the form of a cartoon she confiscates from one of the students in class. Depicted in the cartoon is a hand drawn caricature of a black man with exaggerated thick lips. Erin then makes the connection between the drawing she holds in her hand and the cartoons used for anti-semitic propaganda leading up to the Holocaust - which only one student in the class had even heard of. But now that she has their attention, the door to their expanded universe is about to open.

Since the school board and her superiors consider her students a lost cause, Erin takes two part time jobs so that she can buy her students books that they can relate to. Surprisingly, instead of choosing a book about the inner city experience, she selects one with a Jewish theme instead -- The Diary of Anne Frank. Unexpectedly, it is a book to which they feel an instant connection. Not only can they understand Anne's adolescent angst, but they also know well her feelings of helplessness and alienation in a world she cannot control but which threatens to destroy her. With drive by shootings, random attacks and gang wars a normal part of their own lives, they see the destructive power of prejudice and blind hatred.

"Anne Frank understands our situation," says Eva, one of the Latina girls. So totally identified is she with Anne that when she realizes that Anne dies, Eva is outraged and feels personally betrayed. "Why didn't you tell us that she dies?" she rails at Erin.

The Diary serves as a moral imperative to rise above their own suffering and to survive, enlightened just as the Jewish people have managed to do.

Erin then gives them journals in which to make daily entries on anything at all that comes to mind. Their personal writings convey the tension, mindless violence, and sadness that dominate their lives. Excerpts from their journals are used very effectively in voice-overs during the film and their prose eventually becomes The Freedom Writers' Diary, an anthology on which the film is based.

When the students learn that Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who risked her life to keep the Frank family hidden, is still alive in the Netherlands, they embark on a fund raiser to bring her to their class as a guest speaker. It is the emotional highlight of the film. Visibly moved by the courageous stories of this now elderly woman (played by actress Pat Carroll), the students instantly see her as a hero.

"I was not a hero," she says. "I was an ordinary person. All I did was do the right thing. But you are heroes everyday. You are turning on a light in a dark room."

Seeing that her young charges are now committed to "The Diary," Erin herself sponsors a trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. To personalize the experience, each student is given a card with the picture and story of a child who perished in the Holocaust. It is a poignant, wordless moment in the film, appropriately followed by a dinner with four Holocaust survivors.

This little gem of a film is filled with fine, authentic, credible performances, especially Hilary Swank's which is powerful without being dominating. It also does not use the suffering of the Jewish people to exploit sentimentality. Instead, it provides a context in which these young people can see their own suffering, not as a justification to keep them in the misery of their own lives, but rather as a moral imperative to rise above it and to survive, enlightened just as the Jewish people have managed to do. It's an extraordinary example of learning the lessons of history for personal transformation and renewal.

It is no accident that the majority of Erin Grewall's students went on to college. Their creating The Freedom Writers' Diary serves as a testimony to their transformation. As one of the students says in reference to their diary, "It's something to leave behind. We were here. We mattered." Just like Anne Frank.

Visitor Comments: 9

(8)
Anonymous,
August 8, 2011 7:22 AM

Are we comparing living in America to Europe under the National Socialists fascists and their collaborators

It is a peculiar analogy to draw between a Jewish child and her family hidden from an entire world that looked only to destroy them on account of their being Jewish - and Black, Latino and culturally disadvantaged children living in America! Better and more accurately make a comparison to the Jews who escaped the pogroms and anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia, poverty and anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe that immigrated to America - legitimately - and how they worked very heard to learn English, worked in sweat shops and did everything to raise themselves above the conditions they found themselves upon arriving in America. And did so without the support of tax payer provided public assistance, housing, education, utilities, food stamps, et cetera. None of which was provided to the Jewish children placed on death row for reason of being Jews!
How dare a comparison be made with us children hidden from murderers from which very, very few were to survive. Oh dare you!
Pointing fingers against America -
What are the parents of these children doing to bring them up properly as Jewish mothers and fathers have done for millennium!
They should be the ones in school to learn how from the Jewish immigrants that came to America including survivors of the Holocaust that became themselves and raised their children to be upstanding citizens of America and contributors to America and the world!

Dvirah,
October 17, 2012 5:41 PM

Nevertheless

Anonymous, August 8, 2011 7:22 AM is technically correct in pointing out the differences in the two circumstances, but misses the real point: how people feel when, for one reason or another, the "deck is stacked against them." Any individual has only his own experience to go by, and the feeling of being outcast in your own society is the same even if the severity of the circumstances are not.

(7)
Anonymous,
May 26, 2010 4:47 AM

goood

Every so often I dream of writting something that would help change the world to a better place.

(6)
Ryan Henderson`,
August 19, 2009 7:14 AM

Moving and Inspirational

This movie moved me. It put many things into perspective for people like those kids in the english class. how one person can change so many others. just like the many heroes in the holocaust. Great film.

(5)
roamin holley,
August 12, 2009 4:57 PM

I love the books and the movies freedom writers

the freedom writers is a good book and movie to wach or read cause it amazing how the boy's and girl change there life around in the end and miss g hepl them out at lot if it wasnot for her most of them would of never made it to college or they might of been dead and the reson y i think teenagers can relate to the feedom writers cause uproble going therw the same think i been therw the same thing they whent to kick out of school shot at fight kick out my mom house and all that some time i use to were the same clothes twice a week when i was kick out of school and i got alot of bead home boys but when i read this book it insired me and i start going back to school innow i'm makeing all a and b and i'm in the 10th grade well i'm out so talk later

(4)
Skylar Gabrielsen,
May 19, 2007 7:34 PM

I Like The Freedom Writers So Much !

I Love The Movie Freedom Writers. Its So Amazing.There is some parts that i do not like.But it is a Great Movie.Ihave the movie and seen it about 100 Times. i Love it so much !

(3)
Barbara,
January 16, 2007 6:46 PM

What an emotional film!

Brenda's review of the film is right on target. The movie is so moving, that I've ordered a copy of the Freedom Writer's Diary.

(2)
Anonymous,
January 16, 2007 5:15 AM

Every so often I dream of writting something that would help change the world to a better place. To me, Brenda Yablon's story of Ann Frank and the freedom writers, does just that. I am so moved by the small email here that I had to write and tell someone that i am so moved... to look into my life and others around me, to find that story that would move the world as Ms Yablon has moved me.

(1)
Diane T. Marsh,
January 14, 2007 2:29 PM

Article led me to decision to see movie.

The film clips I had seen on TV did not emphasize the connection between the teacher, her students and the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Reading this article led me to decide to see the movie. I thought it was just more drivel turned out by Hollywood. This story sounds too good to be fiction - is it based on a true life experience? If this article is accurate - and I have no doubt that it is - this movie should prove to be an example which should be taught in all schools no matter where they are located. Children living and attending schools in inner cities; and children living and attending schools in more affluent suburbs and towns can all learn from this experience. Societies all over the world have a new generation who know very little about the Holocaust and need to be educated. All it would take for this to happen again is for a few good people doing nothing!

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...